day 4 - let's burn those fats
Our fourth day at Bali was a really active one! It was also the closest we ever got to a morning beach jog. (Yes, which also happen to mean the jog didn't happen and I didn't get to wear my sport shoes at all. Hahaha.)
We managed to drag ourselves out of bed pretty early and hit the beach before our afternoon activity! Now, that's called making full out of the holiday. Back home, given the choice, I would NEVER try to pack in a morning activity if I have plans in the afternoon. Haha.
The initial plan was just laze on the beach, read abit of our respective books, get some Vitamin D and maybe catch forty winks. Afterall, that's part of what we went to Bali for!
But we kept seeing more surfers along the way and got so jealous of how cool they ALL look riding on that wave. Then someone came along and offered to rent us boards. And a personal instructor. An hour of fun out there for only 50,000rupiah! Which is equivalent to about S$7.50! I couldn't be happier or more excited.
Seeing that we were first-timers, the funny old guy advised us to try out bodyboarding first - which is really a shorter version of a surf board, and you ride back on the waves without having to stand up. It's almost like the pseudo wave pools we have in Singapore or those gradual water slides! Except that it's all natural forces at work. WAY COOL!
I had so much getting whisked out to sea by the instructor (who's also our age!), going over the huge waves, anticipating the next one, and finally getting turned around so that I can catch the wave back! It was so exciting! I would have jumped and squealed with glee if I wasn't in the sea.
However, I also got knocked in the ribs by the board a couple of times when I wasn't watching the waves. And my greed to travel that teeny weeny bit more towards the shore and thus my refusal to get off the board once it comes to a halt resulted in sand in my mouth. Hahaha. You should always watch out of that second wave!
There, the birds and their nests in the bushes on our balcony.
The hotel's chillout area and the oceans beyond.
Blue skies, green seas and the white sand!
Surfergirls!
Getting a massage after surfing. (Or zipping back on the waves, really.)
Nicole too! 
Finally the suntanning and the reading part comes in. Haha.We started back kinda late, and decided to grab some BreadTalk for lunch at Discovering Shopping Centre. See, conveniene of our hotel put to good use again! I just managed to get out of the shower (to just rinse off the saltwater) before the hotel room rang - the guide was here already and the other hotel guests were waiting for us at the lobby! Eeks we were late again!
5 minutes later we were flying into the lobby, bread in one hand, our afternoon activities bag in another. Our tourmates for the afternoon turned out to be a British couple, who are engaged to each and decided to take 3months off life to travel around South America, Australia and Bali before they get real and serious. What a cool thing to do! (Psst to the future boyfriend! Haha.)
A long chat and 2hrs later, we arrived at Bali Adventures' establishment somewhere near the river and got our life jackets, paddles and helmet. Boy, near was nowhere near what we were expecting. It was a good 15minute steep trek down! Haha. Quite exciting with lovely scenery to look at, but all our legs were trembling by the time we were at the river.
Then... it was... WHITE WATER RAFTING 8km down the Ayung River! It took us 2hours, a great deal of screams and alot of rowing. My arms were aching by the time we reached the end. We passed by rapids, waterfalls, broken bridges, stone carvings and much more great landscape. Everytime we came to a rapid, our very cute guide would go "BOOMBOOM, BOOMBOOM! HOLD ON!" Hahaha he's so adorable I wanted to cuddle him and pinch his cheeks! Except that he's maybe my father's age. Haha.
Somewhere along the way, the 3 rafts decided to have a get-ahead-of-each-other-while-splashing-water-at-each-other competition. And the instructors were so good at the splashing water thing! They can actually scoop up the water into the air and BAT IT like a baseball player! Accurately! Me, the best I could manage was some 10 pathetic droplets. Hahaha. Despite having the least number of people on board (5, including the instructor, vs 7 and 8), we came in first! The guide was so truimphant he went "YEEEEEEHA!" with the paddle above his head. Too cute!
5 minutes later we were flying into the lobby, bread in one hand, our afternoon activities bag in another. Our tourmates for the afternoon turned out to be a British couple, who are engaged to each and decided to take 3months off life to travel around South America, Australia and Bali before they get real and serious. What a cool thing to do! (Psst to the future boyfriend! Haha.)
A long chat and 2hrs later, we arrived at Bali Adventures' establishment somewhere near the river and got our life jackets, paddles and helmet. Boy, near was nowhere near what we were expecting. It was a good 15minute steep trek down! Haha. Quite exciting with lovely scenery to look at, but all our legs were trembling by the time we were at the river.
Then... it was... WHITE WATER RAFTING 8km down the Ayung River! It took us 2hours, a great deal of screams and alot of rowing. My arms were aching by the time we reached the end. We passed by rapids, waterfalls, broken bridges, stone carvings and much more great landscape. Everytime we came to a rapid, our very cute guide would go "BOOMBOOM, BOOMBOOM! HOLD ON!" Hahaha he's so adorable I wanted to cuddle him and pinch his cheeks! Except that he's maybe my father's age. Haha.
Somewhere along the way, the 3 rafts decided to have a get-ahead-of-each-other-while-splashing-water-at-each-other competition. And the instructors were so good at the splashing water thing! They can actually scoop up the water into the air and BAT IT like a baseball player! Accurately! Me, the best I could manage was some 10 pathetic droplets. Hahaha. Despite having the least number of people on board (5, including the instructor, vs 7 and 8), we came in first! The guide was so truimphant he went "YEEEEEEHA!" with the paddle above his head. Too cute!
Passing by padi fields on the way there.
All ready to go!
The steep trek down.
Scenic! It looks like one of those ancient Chinese drama settings.
Until I stepped into it. Haha!
Off we go!
First rapids.
Look at the turbulence!
Stone carvings, done by the Balinese people 2yrs back, for the viewing sake of us tourists.
So, we MUST take a photo!
Again, the Chinese drama setting, complete with the bamboos.
Lalala the 2 rafts behind, we're 1st!
Waterfall! A real one this time!
Such a fun picture. :D
That's Tony and Lisa, the cool couple, with us at the back.Oh, I might mention that I have zero sense of balance. Everytime the raft goes through an exceptionally turbulent patch, I will lurch forward, fall off my seat and crash into Tony. Nicole said that if that guy wasn't engaged already, people who didn't know better would definitely think I'm seducing him! Hahaha. But at least I wasn't sitting in front; can you imagine, I'd have fallen OUT of the raft!
Further downstream, locals washing their clothes.
Towards the end, we jumped off the raft to wade in the shallow water.
YEEEEEEHA!
Conquerors of the Ayung River!
Peddlers always target white men. Hahaha. This was on our way back to the main road.
Broken old bridges.
Trekking along. (At least I got to wear my sandals!)
Lovely view from the rest stop!That's all the pictures for the day, because after that we were driven right back to the hotel, where we slacked until our free 45mins massage. We were so wise to schedule it on the 4th day; the rafting definitely left me feeling the need for it! Our dinner included more BreakTalk, Poptarts, MTV thrash and some TimTams for dessert because we were too lazy and tired to go anywhere. Even bedtime was shifted to 11.30pm so that we can make full use of our last day. And trust me, we were fast asleep the moment our heads hit the pillows, shadows or not!
No comments:
Post a Comment